Burr Oak Cemetery finally opens for relatives to check graves

Burr Oak Cemetery is partially opening to the public for the first time since July. November 19, 2009 BY MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist

When Burr Oak Cemetery opens partially to the public today for the first time since all hell broke loose in July, visitors may notice a number of changes, from a repaired main entrance gate to filled potholes to improved drainage.
But probably the most noticeable difference will be the hundreds and hundreds of two-by-fours now sprouting throughout the 105-acre Alsip cemetery like guideposts for some new tract subdivision.

The hefty stakes -- 3,000 in all, each painted with what amounts to a graveyard address -- will serve as location markers for those trying to track down the final resting place of their loved ones.

The lack of such markers -- a permanent installation in most cemeteries -- was one of the main causes of confusion when thousands of family members converged on Burr Oak last summer after the arrest of four individuals in what authorities allege was a grave reselling scheme.

Everyone wanted to determine if their family member's grave was among those that had been violated, but many ended up wandering around lost and confused.
A greater cause of confusion, however, was that there are about 140,000 graves in Burr Oak, yet only 43,000 headstones.

That situation is not so easily solved, although a newly created database of burial records, coupled with the temporary markers, should allow visitors to locate the spot where their family member is supposed to be buried -- "within a few inches," said Roman Szabelski, a veteran cemetery operator brought in as a consultant to Burr Oak's new management.

The disparity between graves and headstones is not evidence of malfeasance by past cemetery management, says Szabelski, but rather an indication of the economic constraints on its clientele. Most people buried at Burr Oak over the years simply chose not to mark the grave.

I was part of a contingent of reporters and photographers given a quickie tour of Burr Oak on Wednesday in preparation for today's reopening, which will be limited to individuals bearing a "ticket" with the location of the grave they seek to visit.

Overall, Burr Oak looked only slightly more bedraggled than any cemetery would on a bleak November day, with dead leaves covering many of the headstones that are flush to the ground.

Frankly, I'm not so sure how many people will be able to satisfy themselves that their family's grave has not been disturbed, even if they're able to find it with some assurance.

What does a 25- to 30-year-old grave look like if it was dug up four or five years ago?

I can say with some degree of confidence that the family members of George Scott, 1903-1975, Corinne Scott Street, 1899-1998, and John Dillard, 1910-1971, have no apparent cause for concern, having eyeballed their graves myself. But somebody may want an explanation for a recently disturbed unmarked grave site just to the side of John Grant, 1909-1997.

More common are large areas without headstones where the grass is splotchy and uneven. Burr Oak officials say they have not tried to identify disturbed graves, citing the criminal investigation.

We were kept at a distance from the crime scene area where sheriff's investigators this summer found human remains sticking out of a dirt pile where they had allegedly been dumped, although anybody can walk right up to the spot along the cemetery's northern border on 123rd Street just east of Cicero.

That area remains fenced off. Szabelski said the sheriff is finished with the site and has collected all visible remains but that there remains concern something "might wash to the top" during a rain.

Burr Oak officials are trying to control the reopening by limiting it to specific cemetery sections daily from today through next Wednesday. The cemetery will close Thanksgiving Day, then reopen to everyone on Friday, Nov. 27.

Until then, though, no drive-in or walk-up traffic will be permitted. Every visitor will have to take a bus from a specially designated transportation center at 12250 S. Cicero, just north of the Condesa del Mar.

You can't get on the bus without a ticket, which must be obtained through a new cemetery Web site, www.burroak alsip.com. The cemetery folks are encouraging everyone to go on the Web site before coming to the transportation center, although there will be some help desks available there. I know some of you would rather have a phone number, but they tell me there is none.

Some of you may remember my story from last month about how Burr Oak resumed burials and immediately ran into a situation where they dug up a casket that wasn't supposed to be there -- with the result that a South Side couple ended up buried with a stranger between them.

Szabelski said he is reasonably confident that the burial records are accurate and that such mishaps won't be commonplace. We'll see.